Hartlebury
| Towards the south | Towards Shrewsbury |
|---|---|
| The Severn Valley Line ended at Hartlebury, joining the former OW&W line south towards Worcester. |
Stourport (3 miles) |
Hartlebury is a village in Worcestershire, approximately 3 miles south of Kidderminster. The railway station, which is located 138 miles 68 chains from London Paddington, opened in 1852 as part of the Oxford Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway. In 1862 it became a junction station as the southernmost station on the Severn Valley Railway, although in practice many Severn Valley services began and ended at Worcester.
Hartlebury station remains in use in modern times, with regular services between Worcester and stations to Birmingham and beyond.
Hartlebury Station[edit | edit source]
The OW&W line through Hartlebury opened on 3 May 1852. Hartlebury station initially had only minimal facilities with a simple wooden shed.[1]
Col. Yolland's report on the Severn Valley Railway for the Board of Trade dated 30 December 1861 noted a number of matters which he required to be addressed before he would recommend opening of the Railway. These included installing a turntable at Hartlebury. John Fowler ensured his requirements were quickly rectified. Yolland carried out another inspection on 15 January 1862 and apart from improvements still in progress at Buildwas, his report dated 23 January 1862 indicated that in every other respect he was satisfied and recommended that the Board of Trade sanctioned the opening.[2]
Yolland's report in December 1861 also expressed concern about a level crossing on a minor road near Hartlebury which had not been sanctioned by Parliament. In his January 1862 report he noted that an undertaking had been given to apply for parliamentary sanction to maintain the level crossing; this was granted in the SVR Act of 30 June 1864.[2]
Hartlebury duly became a junction station on 1 February 1862 with the opening of the Severn Valley Railway. Construction of a new station more appropriate to its new status was authorised on 6 April 1865 at a cost of £300. [1]
Between 1862 and the opening of the Kidderminster Loop Line in 1878, goods traffic from the Severn Valley branch and the Tenbury & Bewdley Railway bound for Kidderminster and the West Midlands needed to travel to Hartlebury, reversing onto the OW&W line there.
The original smaller goods yard and cattle dock was south of the station.[3] The turntable in the larger goods yard north of the station was in place until 1925.[4] The footbridge has two flights of steps on each platform.[5]
Cattle pens, and sidings to cope with additional fruit traffic were constructed in 1924.[6][7] These changes can be seen on the later maps below, south and north of the station respectively.
It was announced that the yard crane was to be replaced by a standard 6-ton hand crane in 1927[8]
The extracts from OS maps below show the development of the station and surroundings between 1883 and 1927. Although the OS Maps refer to the station as Hartlebury Junction, the station itself was never given this name, always appearing in timetables as 'Hartlebury'.
North of Hartlebury 1883
North of Hartlebury 1901
North of Hartlebury 1927
South of Hartlebury 1883
South of Hartlebury 1901
South of Hartlebury 1927
GWR staff records for 1922 show the station had a staff of 24.
The goods yard closed on 1 February 1965,[9] while the footbridge and platform canopies were also removed during the 1960s.[10] The station buildings had been closed by 1994 and the waiting room replaced by a simple ‘bus shelter’.[11]
Severn Valley Line[edit | edit source]
The line for the Severn Valley Railway left the OWW line at Hartlebury Junction which was situated 27 chains north of the station. Through passenger traffic to Shrewsbury ended on 9 September 1963, although passenger services between Hartlebury and Bewdley continued until 5 January 1970. The line as far as Stourport remained open for coal trains serving Stourport Power Station until coal trains ceased in March 1979,[12] the line itself finally being taken out of use on 12 January 1981.[13]
Signalling[edit | edit source]
Hartlebury originally had one signal box to the south of the station on the Down side of the line controlling the station and junction.
In 1876 this was replaced by a McKenzie and Holland Type 2 box on the Up side of the line, having 21 levers and working to Droitwich on the block system, plus a second box to the north of the station controlling the junction. The later 1910 30-lever frame was replaced by a panel on 29 November 1982.[14]
1905 GWR plan of the station
See also[edit | edit source]
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Marshall (1989) p. 87.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Marshall (1989) pp. 48-49.
- ↑ Western Main Lines, Worcester to Birmingham via Kidderminster, Mitchell and Smith (2007), ISBN 9781904474975, VIII
- ↑ Mitchell & Smith, Western Main Lines, 27
- ↑ Mitchell & Smith, Western Main Lines, 23
- ↑ Great Western Railway Magazine, January 1924
- ↑ Great Western Railway Magazine, February 1924
- ↑ Great Western Railway Magazine, January 1927
- ↑ Mitchell & Smith, Western Main Lines, 25
- ↑ Wikipedia
- ↑ Siviter (1995) p. 84.
- ↑ Mitchell & Smith (2007)
- ↑ Vanns p. 94.
- ↑ Mitchell & Smith, Western Main Lines, 26
Links[edit | edit source]
| ||||||||||||||||||||